North Kolkata Calling !!

A Himachal Pradesh women committed Sati on a Diwali day. Till now the people of  Sammoo village in Hamirpur district, prefer not to celebrate Diwali. The elders of the village warned the youngsters that if they celebrate  this particular day, there will be misfortune, disaster and deaths. The legend has it that a woman left her parents's home to celebrate Diwali. On her way she came to known of her soldier husband's death.She immediately decided to burn herself in her husband"s pyre, though she was pregnant! The villagers follow this so strictly that they prefer to stay out of any Diwali celebrations even when they are not in the village!

The Indian village's name was Daulatpur Nasirabad. In 1978 the president of America visited the village with the then chief minister Devi Lal. The American president was none other than Jimmy Carter. After the President left the village in Gurugram it's name became known as Carterpuri.This shows how popular Jimmy Carter was.

A newspapers is offering several tips to keep our pet dogs in mood during Diwali. It is not unknown that dogs, during this festive season ,are the most unhappy lots. They cannot tolerate the sound of loud crackers. Today while reading the newspapers, I found a new method offered to calm and sooth our pet dogs. We must thank the publisher for understanding our feelings towards the troubles of our dear ones. The solution given by them is to play Classical Music to sooth their nerves. We are all aware of dogs loving music.Probably that was the reason why the HMV's (His Master's Voice) symbol was a dog listening intently to music coming out through it's amplifier! Thanks to TOI for offering us such a wonderful solution. What says the Classical Music fraternity?

Where have all the students gone ? This is the question that is creating headache for the Chinese Government. More than 1000 kindergarten schools of China are closed due to lack of students. This is happening due to a decline in birth rate. China, which once had a great population growth, is now worried about this decline in birth rate. This decline has been noted for the third consecutive year. It dropped by 11.55% which comes to 5.35 million.The primary schools too dropped by at least 3.8 per cent. Government, through various schemes , is leaving no stone unturned to fill the void.  

Kamala Harris seems to be breaking new grounds. Became the first African American and first person of South Asian heritage to become US vice president. It is an expectation that she has a fair chance to become the fifth sitting veep. Further ,she also has the chance to win and get the top job-The President of America!

In  fashion world hairstyle is always  considered as very important . Some young Londoners  have decided now to break the stereotype system. These young groups of students and professionals believe that they have designed the first ever emojis of black and mixed race hairstyles. The project wants to break the belief that African hairstyle is not only  unprofessional but  unattracting and unclean. Among the present 4000 emojis, none showcases black or mixed race hairstyles . This will break the society standards believes, Jayzik Duckoo, a project worker aged 17 years old.

Satyajit Ray, the world famous Oscar winning Indian film director, is being given a Blue Plaque. It is a honour given to famous person, event or a former building in a public place. There are at least 75 blue plaques in Hampstead. These are presented by English Heritage or its forebears , Society of Arts, London County Council and Greater London Council. Hampstead is known for the rich and famous like Agatha Christie,T S Eliot, Elizabeth Taylor, Sigmund Freud etc. Ray's son Sandip Ray provided a letter which showed that the Director lived in the Hampstead house during the 50s.

In Madhya Pradesh the Barwani district hospital experienced a strange controversy. A 30 year old man named Rakesh was brought there as a snake bite case. While the nurses were preparing to attend the patient, suddenly a Tantrik or an Ojha appeared from nowhere. From a video recording it was found that the Ojha was throwing Neem leaves towards the patient while uttering mantras .The sisters were simply staring at the ongoing event. Strangely, after sometime passed,Rakesh was found seeping a cup of tea. Anita Singare,, the district hospitals civil surgeon, claimed that the patient survived because he was administered anti venom and that was the reason for his recovery- not for any black magic of Ojha. On the other hand, the patients family  believed that the Ojha was responsible for the cure.

He was found by  Russian authorities after 27 days in the wide lonely sea. They were three of them in a small boat. Among them two  - his brother and nephew-perished.They found  a man wearing a hooded jacket - lean and thin with vacant eyes. His uncut beards covered his face that added to his wretchedness.A red flag was tied on his sailboat.They found the boat near the water of the Sea of Okhotsk .It was however first spotted by a fishermen vessel off the Coast of the Kamchatka peninsula.

        

Usually peacocks are not seen at  great heights. Probably due to climate change they seem to be roaming at  unexpected places . Though they have been seen roaming at a height of 2000 meters but that is very rare. In this year a peacock was seen at a height of 6,500ft in the Kumaon Himalayas. Experts still believe that this has been happening mainly due to climate change. Ranger with Bageshwar named Shyam Singh Karayt mentions that this is probably due to shift in weather patterns and habitat changes. Animals are beginning to venture into new territories in search of food or water.

It was rather surprising for the archaeologist to find an old substance tied around a mummy's neck. She was a young lady and she died around 3600 years ago. On further investigation it was found to be a cheese that has dried up through ages and become hard and powdery. It was a bronze age coffin that was found on 2003. The Tarim Basin desert was exceptionally in favour of the climate which preserved the young ladie's coffin. In fact her boots ,hat and the cheese that adorned her neck were well preserved.

Ramdulal De is well known for his pioneering jobs with America.When America gained independence from British rule few Indians were eager to do business with this newly independent country.An important merchant from Bengal ,to create Trade & Commerce relation with America, was Ramdulal.In fact he is known as the Pioneer in Indo-American Trade Relation. Among his two sons, named Chatu Babu and Latu Babu-Chatu Babu (Ashutosh Deb) is also known as first Bengali Sitarist. Saibal Kumar Deb, a descendant of the renowned family is also a musician. He organises programs in Classical Music. His elder brother Ptd. Sandip Deb is well known in Classical Music World for Tabla (Benaras Gharana). Pt Ravishankar